Irish Drifter James Deane conquers the States by winning Formula Drift in America

And the Cork natives historic win means he is officially crowned the best drifter in the world a that's a fact.. even the Americans have to reluctantly accept it

Review

By Darren Liggett

19th October 2017,7:33 pm

Updated: 20th October 2017,1:23 pm

JAMES Deane is the 2017 Formula DRIFT Champion after dominating the series from start to finish.

And he is now the undisputed ‘Best Drifter in the World’, a fact the Americans have to accept because after winning Formula Drift in their backyard, he adds that to his four times Irish, and four times European, championship wins earing him the official Drift King crown.

Dream team… James Deane, Piotr Wiecek and Dean ‘Karnage’ Kearney and behind them the Worthouse Drift Team grid girls

The win also elevated the Pole from 12th to eighth in the overall standings.

Sadly the luck of the Irish wasn’t with Waterford’s Deane ‘Karnage’ Kearney as his season went up in flames when the engine blew in his V10 Dodge Viper.

But Kearney managed a very respectable 12th place in the standings despite being plagued with mechanical issues all season but you can guarantee Dean will be back stronger than ever next year.

Speaking afterwards James Deane said: “It’s been the best weekend of my life. I’ve turned 26 today, got a third place and a podium and my teammate finished in first while I’ve won the Formula Drift 2017 Championship. It’s just a perfect end to the best season of my life. To see Piotr on that podium was incredible. I knew he had it in him and there was no one beating him tonight. It’s amazing.

“I want to thank everyone who supported me, the Worthouse Drift Team for giving me the opportunity to compete in the best series in the world, Falken Tire for supporting us out here and all the Irish, Polish and American fans. The support we had this weekend was crazy. I’m so thankful to everyone; my family and friends that believed in me from the very start. This is for all of them. Thank you so much.” he added.

Deane’s Worthouse Drift Teammate, Piotr Wiecek, had this to say about his victory and his friend James’s historic championship win: “What an amazing day. It’s the last event of the season and the last Formula Drift event here in Irwindale ever and I’ve managed to take the win and make my dreams come true. I didn’t expect to get on a podium this year, let alone grab a win and now I’m standing here with a first place trophy, which is just unreal. Once again happy birthday and congratulations to James. He fully deserves this. He’s a legend. What a day. What a season. Thank you to everyone for the support.”